Tilting as a process contradicts the logic of tea brewing. Intuitively, making tea is about repose; it is about pouring, waiting and waiting a bit more while leaving the teapot where tea is brewing undisturbed. Years ago, I saw my first tilting teapot in a Midwestern hotel without even knowing it was a clumsy knock-off of the original Ronnefeldt tilting teapot. Plagiarizing objects is one of the most fundamental aspects of design and a tilting teapot is easy to plagiarize because everyone understands the principle –and says aha!- once one sees it for the first time. A tilting teapot is a low-tech object based on common sense, a rare design quality that often marvels us to find in what we call well-designed objects. The Ronnefeldt tilting teapot is designed to visually display the different stages of tea brewing by changing position in a process of reverse tilting: the teapot lays on its back to introduce the tea leaves in a small interior shelf and pour the hot water in the main compartment. As the tea darkens, the pot is tilted up to about 60 degrees to better control the brewing process. Finally, when the tea is ready, the teapot is tilted upright so that the water is no longer in contact with the tealeaves and the brew does not become bitter. The form of the teapot is unassuming and neutral, a bit shy perhaps in comparison to the brilliance of its functional principle.
